Design to Startup!

One of the most important aspects of starting a business (but often overlooked) is defining and developing one’s brand from the beginning. Here’s a checklist of exactly what needs to be done in order to start your branding exercise.

2016 Young Designpreneurs Challenge is an annual event organised by KDU University College, Department of Creative Arts with the objective to nurture young Malaysians to build their future career as Designers with Entrepreneurial skills in a highly competitive market.

Held in April, the challenge was very well received. Approximately 180 students from 24 schools participated in this challenge. Each group with a maximum number of 5 students was required to upcycle waste materials to design a table lamp.

The challenge mechanics:

Day 1:
Each group went through a brainstorming session with our senior lecturer Mr. Jackson Wong to develop a product concept that only uses waste materials. Each team was required to pitch their concept in order to go through to the next elimination round and get their spot into the final round.

Day 2:
8 teams were selected and went through an intensive workshop with Jackson to turn their concepts into final prototypes at the end of the 2nd day.

Anyone who has started a business on a shoestring is adept at bootstrapping, or in other words stretching resources — both financial and non-financial — as far as they can.

Bootstrapping is not only limited to startup state but also at any stage of a business’ growth. With various skills and expertise, a bootstrap entrepreneur is able to develop high quality content and experience for their potential customers without incurring any cost.

The KDU Entrepreneurial Design academic team demonstrates just that by producing our very own in-house video production for our Creative Arts programmes i.e. Entrepreneurial Design and Entertainment Arts.

If you are ready to take your career to the next level, pursuing a Master of Design (Innovation) can help you get there.

The Master of Design (Innovation) is a dual parchment programme awarded by KDU University College and Rome University of Fine Arts (RUFA), and is best suited for those in the areas of Design and Innovation; Multimedia and Web; Advertising, Marketing and Communication; Photography; New Media Design; and Design as Research.

Here’s what you can do when you apply for this programme:

For more info about Master of Design (Innovation), visit our official KDU University College website here. For programme brochure, click here.